Too Quiet

Thankfully, Logan isn't the kind of child who gets really quiet when she's doing something she's not supposed to be doing. Nope, she's overtly loud when she's getting into trouble. Usually when she's really quiet I can expect to see her in her room doing something like this:

Or playing mama to her babies, or laying down on her bed pretending to sleep, or going "chopping" through all of her toys.

She really loves reading. Sometimes she won't even ask to be read to, but will grab her favorite stories and take them somewhere quiet, find the pages she knows the best and recite them the best that she can.

She's developing quite the little personality. We can't believe that she's only 4 months away from being 2 and only about 5 months away from being a big sister!

Neat Freak

Logan is SUCH a clean kid. She h-a-t-e-s it when she has anything sticky/wet/messy on her and immediately will ask to be wiped down if she does. She's loves to take the dust pan and the small dust broom and go around the kitchen getting crumbs cleaned up and she really loves being given a rag so she can go around the house and wipe things down. It's like heaven for me to watch her because I know one day it's really going to come in handy. :) In fact, she's so clean that to get her to pick up her toys and her books at the end of the day, I have to bribe her by telling her she can vacuum.

It works for me because the clutter gets picked up and my house gets a fresh run of the vacuum every night! And she really does a decent job with it, two days ago I let her loose in our room and she vacuumed the entire thing and when I went back over it I was pleasantly surprised to find that she had gotten most of the junk out of the carpet. Here are a couple of videos of my little neat freak in training:

17 Weeks

I am 17 weeks pregnant today! The morning sickness subsided a little more over the past week. It's only hit 2 or 3 times really hard, so things are looking brighter! I'm feeling movement close to every day, now. Usually in the evenings, but occasionally during the day when his/her big sister is running wild. We're about two weeks away from finding out the baby's gender, so big things are coming up! (I'm not sure why the picture ended up looking so grainy, but it'll have to do)

Animal Sounds

Logan and I have been working really hard on getting animal sounds down. It seemed like things were moving along really slowly (she and I have been doing them every day for several months) but a few weeks ago it all clicked and she's been picking them up really quickly ever since. These are the ones that she knows the best (cow, sheep, duck, dog, lion)...she's missing the first letter off of a few of them--and yes, she says "tack tack" for a duck, but she gets the idea. She's also recently picked up the letters A, B and C and can point them out in alphabet books and say them in order (if she's in the right mood).

Best Buds

We are so sad that John and Lindsey only have a few more weeks in VA, because it'll mean that instead of being only 2 hours away, they'll be moving about 10 hours away. It's been so nice having them so close for the last few months, but we're excited that they'll finally be able to live in a house of their own for a while. Logan will be particularly sad that she won't be able to see her "u-non" (uncle John) and "a-sey" (aunt Lindsey) every few weeks. She thinks that John is her best buddy and has so much fun when he's around.

She loves to play hide and seek with him (though she doesn't quite understand the concept of truly hiding yet):

And helps him when he blows up and then tears down the air mattress:

She adores all of the attention he gives her and looks for him for hours after he's left.

They came down this weekend to go to the Alabama/Duke game and it was nice to have them in town, especially since I was sick and they were able to help out with Logan so much. We look forward to seeing them again in a few weeks after John's graduation from his training!

16 Weeks

16 weeks down, 24 to go! I FINALLY got a morning sickness break this week and was only sick about 4 of the 7 days which is wonderful. Yesterday it hit pretty hard, but today (so far) has been ok. I've really felt some stronger movement this week, though it comes and goes and never has a good pattern. We're really excited about finding out the gender in about 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I'm starting to feel a sinus issue and can't take much. I used a Neti-Pot for the first time ever today and am impressed at how nicely it cleared me up for a while. I just wish I didn't have to use it every 3 hours.

Logan wanted in on this week's photo shoot. She played dress up this afternoon, hence the leopard print leggings and tutu.

Oh Sweet Clean Day!

About three weeks ago our vacuum sputtered to a stop while I was trying to rid the house of goldfish crumbs. I knew it was coming, but was hoping it'd hold out on us a bit longer, but I guess it had other plans. We've been through 3 vacuums in 4 years. It's crazy. And we know the culprit is my long hair-- it jams them up and eventually you can't get it unjammed and the vacuum dies. So, instead of dropping 80 bucks with the knowledge that the new vacuum would probably only last a year or two, we decided to hold off, borrow vacuums and save up some money to get a good one. My main goal in finding a vacuum this time around was looking for one that had reviews specifically linked to the hair jamming issue, this, along side of a glowing recommendation from a friend led me to this baby:

I'd like to introduce you to Miele, my new best friend. It came in the mail last night and I think I've vacuumed the house 3 or 4 times just because I can. I don't think these carpets have ever been this clean and I have a new bounce in my step today because of it. It is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Even Logan loves it (and she's never been a vacuum fan):

The best part? It's a $300 machine and we only paid $24.00 for it (and it's got a 7 year warranty on it so we know we're good for at least that long). It's true. We got a very nice gift from someone to help with the vacuum and I traded in several swagbuck points for amazon gift cards and that was our leftover balance.

We're excited, as you can tell:

That's Logan's new "cheese" face.

18 Month Appointment

Logan had her 18 month appointment today (only about a month and a half late this time), and she's looking great! She weighs 24lbs even and is 33 inches long, that puts her in the 75% for her height and the 45% for her weight--tall and skinny just like her daddy.

She is:

-saying about 90 words now

-putting together small sentences

-following commands (i.e. Go get your bow from mommy's room)

-is able to play on her own using her imagination

-feeds herself with utensils

-is about 85% potty trained

- recognizes and knows the sounds for the letters A, B, and P (I know, random)

- plays cooperatively with other children

- can tell the stories in books she's had read to her several times (as in, she knows what words come next and can point to pictures and "tell" you what's happening)

- knows several animal sounds

- knows all of her body parts

According to her Dr., this means that she's developing more on the level of a 2-2 1/2 year old. We met with our favorite Dr. today and got to brag on our Bum Genius cloth diapers because she's about to have her first baby and is planning on using them, as well! Logan was very happy because she didn't need any vaccines today (though I didn't tell her we'll be going back in a few weeks for a flu shot) and because she doesn't need to go back otherwise until she's 2.

After we left the Dr. I took Logan to the playground in the mall so she could play for a bit (and so I could get some pictures for everyone).

Walking The Baby

Logan has been very big on pretend play lately. She loves to mommy her little babies by changing their diapers, giving them bottles, changing their clothes (or just stripping them naked) and putting them to bed. Today when I told her we were going to take a walk, she not so subtly let me know that she wanted to walk her baby by pretty much throwing her baby stroller down a flight of stairs, grabbing her baby doll and saying, "walk, walk!" Normally, I'd try and convince her to hold the baby in her own stroller while we walk because it's about 1/4 of a mile, it takes a good 30 minutes to walk if she's walking on her own without a baby doll stroller, it's about 84 degrees and sunny (which is nice when you're just sitting, but gets a bit stuffy when you're out and about) and she usually doesn't even make it all the way around without being held halfway through; but Mike was at work, we had 45 minutes to kill before starting dinner and she really wanted to do it.

Here we are leaving our building:

Down the sidewalk:

Stopping for a "cheese" (sheeeeese!) moment:

Stopping in the grass halfway around the complex:

She let me watch the baby while she twirled around for a while.

And surprisingly, she made it the 1/4 mile around our complex (including one very steep hill) only asking to be held for a small stretch of it. And she pushed her little baby almost the entire way too! She was a bit tired when we got back, but still wanted to sit on her step (the "bep") and pose for some pictures.

Maybe this means she'll pass out and sleep her entire 11 hours tonight without any wake ups?! We can hope!

Gameday!

Oh, fall. It brings so many of our favorite things...

Milder weather, pumpkin spice lattes, stove top fall potpourri (which is about the only kind that doesn't make me gag right now), the start of the holiday season, a change of wardrobe, and college football! Of course, football also brings a fun change of wardrobe for Logan, and today's little outfit was a really fun one to shop for because it was a swagbucks buy! That's right, I got it free just for searching the internet. Seriously, you want in on this action if you haven't signed up yet. Go here and do it!

15 Weeks

I am 15 weeks pregnant today! I know I've said it before, but this pregnancy is flying for me...this baby is going to be here before we know it! So far, the nausea has let up enough to give me about an extra hour or two of normalcy during the day, so, we're getting a little bit better. I'm still having a hard time eating (though, you wouldn't tell by looking at my growth pattern) because as soon as I think of a food, it makes me sick. I've been living off of pretty bland, basic foods--baked potatoes, salads, steamed veggies, and all things dairy--milk, ice cream, yogurt, cheese, just like Logan's pregnancy. I'm looking forward to 16 weeks to see if maybe things will let up totally like they did with L. There's got to be an end in sight, right?

We've had some gorgeous fall weather here the last couple of days! We hit about the mid 80's by the end of the day but spend most of the morning in the 60's-70's which allows us to be able to play outside without sweating to death. This morning it was a nice, crisp 57 degrees, so we got dressed and hung out for a while. (pretty much just so I could get pictures for you guys ;)

Check out the ponytail:

Every once and a while I catch a picture of her where I can't even see my little baby anymore. This is a good example of that:

Happy Weekend!

Dear Jesus, Thank You For Pooh...and pictures

Logan recently began to mimic us when we pray with her before bed. It's very sweet and melts my heart when I hear her doing it. Though, sometimes it DOES lengthen the bedtime process as she feels she needs to thank Jesus for everything in her life. Here's what the prayers sound like:

Mommy: Dear Jesus/L: Yees

Mommy: Thank you for/L: Mama and Dada...and dada...and dada

Mommy: Thank you for/L: Pooh, and bows

Mommy: Thank you for/L: Pops (lollipops), num nums, teeth

Mommy: Thank you for/L: Shoes.

L: Ahhhhh-mein

...you get the idea.

Today we took Logan to the mall to get out of the house for a bit and I thought it was a good opportunity to snap some pictures in a different location. I know a lot of you have been waiting on baited breath for some new pictures, so here you go! ;)